Clock controlled mechanism



Jan. :5.8,y 1947.

. B. REGENSTEINER ETAL Y CLOCK CONTROLLED MECHANISM Filed Feb. 12, 1945v INVENToRs,

L'rt .f alla" Maz Patented Jan. 28, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECLOCK CONTROLLED MECHANISM Bertold. Regensteiner and Max Regensteiner,Chicago, Ill.

Application February 12, 1945, Serial No. 577,505

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to clock controlled mechanisms and moreparticularly to an improvement in the time controlled means for turningon or on an electric lamp or an alarm, or both, especially of the typeshown in British Patent No. 380,624 of September 22, 1932.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improvedclock released trip means which operates an electric switch to turn thelight on or off, and which may be arranged to operate an alarm. In thepreferred embodiment of the present invention the clock operates a shaftor tube which supports the lamp shade. A manually rotatable plate orescutcheon surrounds the clock operated tube where the tube joins thebase of the lamp. The escutcheon positions a pin-receiving depression oropening which receives a pin carried by a plate or gear on the clockoperated tube. When the clock operated tube reaches a position set forit by the manually rotated escutcheon a spring pressed pin movesupwardly, thus releasing a manually set spring operated pawl whichadvances a ratchet of an electric switch one step. The electric switchcontrols the circuit for the lamp and/or other electrical devices. Thesame pin also actuates an alarm release.

The attainment of the above and further bjects of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front View of a clock embodying the present invention,with certain parts thereof broken away to illustrate the interiorconstruction;

Figure 2 is an enlarged top view of the structure of Figure l below-thelamp shade, with certain parts broken away to illustrate progressivelydifferent parts of the mechanism;

Figure 3 is a side view of the base with parts broken away to illustratethe interior construction;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating the manner of action of thetrip mechanism;

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 3 but with the base turned throughan angle of 90;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view of the electric commutator switch of thepresent clock lamp; and

Figure '7 is a perspective view of one of the parts of the mechanism.

The lamp l of the present invention comprises n a base 2 of a generallycircular cross section from `revolution in exactly twelve hours.. rEhetube 4 supports a lamp shade 5 which is rotatable therewith and iscalibrated by being divided into twelve equal and consecutively numberedparts designating the respective hours, as indicated at 8, each divisionbeing further sub-divided into approximately four parts designating thequarter hours. is a stationary tube IB which supports an electric lampsocket ll for an electric lamp l2 and also provides space within it fora pair of electric wires for furnishing energy to the lamp l2. Mountedon the socket ll is a wire yoke I3 that supports a stationary spindle IQthat carries a stationary pointer l5 which extends downwardly into theregion of the calibrated movable scale 8. Extending above the lamp base2 is a vertically slidable on and 01T alarm pin I6 and a verticallyslidable switch actuating pin or button il, both of which will be morefully described as this specification proceeds.

The base 2 consists of a cylindrical casing open at the bottomk andclosed at the top by a closure Z, the top closure having a centralopening therein. An inverted circular cup-shaped member 22 is insertedthrough the opening in the top 2c and has a peripheral flange 23 ofspring material bearing against the under side of the top 2li. The tube3 has at its lower end a peripheral flange 24 (Fig. 5) terminating in afrusto conical escutcheon 25 thatembraces and overhangs the part of thecup-shaped member 22 that extends through the opening 2G. The circularange 24 of the tube 3 is secured to the member 22 as by screws 26. Thebottom of the frusto conical portion 25 rests upon the top 2i) of thebase 2 and thus holds the cup-shaped member in place. By tightening ofthe screws 26 the cup-shaped member is pulled upwardly so that itsbottom flange is in spring pressure engagement with the under side ofthe top 20 of the base. It is in frictional engagement with the base sothat upon turning of the tube 3 the cup-shaped member 22 turns with itand is held by friction in its adjusted position. The outer surface ofthe frusto conical escutcheon 25 is calibrated by being divided intotwelve equal parts each representing one hour Within the rotatable hourhand tube ll 3 and each of which is further sub-divided into four equalparts representing, respectively, quarhour intervals.

The hour hand shaft Il has a spur gear Sil at the bottom thereof, whichspur gear is in mesh with a pinion Slithat is driven by an electricmotor actuated gearing 32 at such a speed that the gear 3@ makes onecomplete revolution per twelve hours. The gear 3i! is constantly pushedupwardly by a vertically slidable pin 33 the bottom of which isconstantly pressed upwardly by a leaf spring Sli. face of the gear 39slides along the under surface of the inverted circular cup-shapedmember 22 and thus limits the extent of vertical upward movement of therotatable hour hand tube li. The top periphery of the inverted circularcup'n shaped member 22 has a cut and upwardly bent tongue 33 therein.When the pin 36 in its movement rides past the edge 3Q it snaps up intothe hole formed by the bent up part 38 and rises therein under thelifting action of the pin 33, which then permits the spring 3e to rise.As the tube f continues to turn, the pinta gradually slides down on theinclined lower surface of the tongue 38, thus drawing the tube idownwardly to its normal position and restoring the pin .t3 and thespring 3K3 to the positions illustrated in Figure 5. It is thus apparentthat once during each lrevolution of the hour hand tube i the tube willrise and permit the spring 3d to move from the position illustrated inFigure 5, which is the dotted line position illustrated in Figure 4, tothe full line position illustrated in Figure 4. The particular time ofthe day when this action takes place will be determined entirely by theangular position of the inverted circular cup-shaped member 22 which, aspreviously stated, is manually adjustable. By turning the tube 3, whichcarries with it the member 22, the position of the member 22 is manuallyadjustable to bring about the temporary release of the spring 34 fromthe position illustrated in Figure to that of Figure 4 at anydesiredtime of the day. The calibrated scale on the conical member indicatesthe time of the day when this action will take place.

A11 electric clock motor, indicated in general by the reference numeraldi), is mounted on the inside or the basevZ in any desired manner. Anystandard type of electric clock motor may be used. The clock motorpreferably is of the type that has a buzzer or alarm 4l which iscontinuously electrically energized whenever the motor is energized, andtends to operate the Vibrating wire i2 having a shortweight or buzzer 43at one end. Arrangements are provided Vfor preventing vibration oroscillation of the wire 42 notwithstanding the fact that the buzzer isbeing electrically energized, which will be described as thisdescription proceeds. On the top of the motor mechanism fill there ismounted a ilat brass plate of a generally circular shape. This platesupports, on its upper side, the step down geare ing 32.

On the top of the plate there is mounted a slide s6, The slide has arectangular lengthwise extending slot i? therein and is held on theplate by the heads of two screws 48-49, the

Vshanls of which pass through the slot 41 and thread into the plate 4d,and the heads of which rest on the slide l5 and thus hold the slide onthe plate while permitting the slide freedom of longitudinal movementwithin the limits of the length of the slot 47. A wire spring 5i) ismounted A short pin 3% secured to the top sur- Y ture with the spring3d.

at one end on the top of the .plate 4 and at the opposite or free endbears against a projection 52 on the slide 11?;- and thus constantlyurges the slide to its released position, which is the positionillustrated in Figure 2. The slide may be moved to its operativeposition by means of a exible cabie Ell one end or which is secured tothe slide, as illustrated in Figure 2, and the opposite end of whichextends through an opening in the casing so that by manually pulling onthe cable till the slide moved to its alternate position against theaction of the spring Means is provided for releasably latching the inits operative position and holding it in that position against theaction of the spring which constantly tends to return it to its iormalposition, illustrated in Figure 2. The atching means is secured to theunder side of the plate M and comprises a short leaf spring 5G one endof which is free and the opposite end of which is rigidly secured to theend of the leaf spring 34. The opposite end of the leaf spring 3 isrigidly secured to the under side of the plate ifi as by a screw 5&3.The spring is a straight spring whereas the spring 5c is a bent leafspring. The forward end Se of the spring 55 has been bent downwardly outof the plane of the rest of the spring 56, as is illustrated in Figure4. Lit the juncture of the bent portion @il with the rest of the springthere is located a short pron tuberance which bears against the underside of the plate sii and acts as a fulcrum for the spring 56. At theforward end of the bent part @il there is welded or otherwise secured acatch Si?, one face el of which is at right angles to the surface andthe opposite face of which is beveled, as may be seen from Figure 4. Ahole 5s is provided in the plate il immediately above the catch 63. Whenthe spring 5t is in its normal or released .position the top of thecatch ES is below the top of the plate sil and therefore the catch d3does not interfere with the sliding movement of the slide d5. The pin 33rests upon the spring 35i and is constantly urged upwardly by the spring3d and in turn forces the spring 3ft downwardly at all times except whenthe gear 3i? is the position illustrated in Figure e.

When the pin 33 forces the spring Se downwardly from the positionillustrated in Figure e, the spring 55 is moved downwardly at its junc-The spring 55 pivots about the fuicrum 52 under the natural resiliencyof the spring 5e to move the catch e3 upwardly through the opening inthe plate lll and into the opening el' in the slide 13. If now the slideis pulled forward until the back end BS of the slide passes the catch 63and then released, the upright surface @d of the catch will bear againstthe back of the slide and hold the slide against retraction by thespring 5i). As the clock operates, the gear 3i? rotates and once duringeach twelve hours the pin 36 on the gear 3G comes to the edge 39 of theopening in the inverted circular cup-shaped member 22. The spring 34then acting upwardly on the pin 33 causes that pin to force the gear 39upwardly to the position illustrated in Figure 4. The upward movement ofthe spring 3d causes a corresponding downward movement of the catch endof the spring 5t, thus withdrawing the catch from behind the back 66 ofthe slide it so that the slide then returns to the position of Figures 2and l under the action of the spring 5t. The slide t has a pawl lthereon which engages a tooth on a ratchet wheel il rotatably mounted inthe base 2, and advances the ratchet wheel one notch. The ratchet wheelrotates a commutator 'l2 which is mounted on the same shaft 13 thatcarries the ratchet 'i l The oommutator consists of alternate segmentsof insulation 'i4 separated by intervening alternate segments ofconducting material 15, the conducting segments being all electricallyconnected together. Brush contacts 'I6-1l (Fig. 6) have slidingengagement with the commutator 12. When the brush contacts are lrestingon the insulating segments there is no circuit between them whereas whenthey are resting on the conducting segments there ls a circuit betweenthem. These brush contacts are in series with the electric lamp I2.

Two separate means are provided for preventing audible operation of thebuzzer 4l. One of these means consists of the pin l5 which is slidablymounted in the top of the base 2 and extends downwardly through anoversized hole in the plate 44 and is movable into and out of the pathof movement of the vibrating wire 42. When the pin I6 is in its loweredposition, as illustrated in Figure 5, it bears against the wire 42 andholds the same against vibration. Therefore there is no audible signal.When the pin I6 is pulled upwardly it clears the wire 42 and thus is outof position of interference with vibration of this wire. The other meansconsists of a pin 30 on the under side of the spring 34. When the spring34 is in the position illustrated in Figure 5 the pin 80 is in the pathof movement of the wire 42 and holds that wire against vibration. Whenthe spring 34 moves upwardly to the position illustrated in Figure 4 itdraws the pin 80 upwardly and out of interference with the vibratingaction of the wire 20, which wire may then vibrate if the pin I5 haspreviously been pulled upwardly to position it out of interference withthe vibrating action.

An explanation will now be given of the manner of operation of theapparatus thus far described. Assume that it is desired to turn on thelight and to actuate the buzzer alarm at any speciic time, say, 8:00oclock. The tube 3 is then turned manually to bring the 8:00 oclockmarking on the escutcheon opposite an index point marked on the top ofthe base 2. The turning of the tube 3 results in turning of the invertedcircular cup-shaped member 2L? thus locating that member in such aposition that the pin 34 of the hour hand spur gear 3l) Awill come pastthe point 39 of the member 22 at exactly 8:00 oclock. This iixes thetime of operation of the mechanism. The pin I6 is then pulled upwardlyout of engagement with the vibrating wire 42 so that now only the pin B0on the spring 34 prevents the vibration of the wire 42. The cable 54 ispulled outwardly of the casing until the end 66 of the slide passes thecatch E3 on the spring 55. The catch 63 then bears against the end 66 ofthe slide 46 and holds the slide against retraction. The apparatus isnow in the position illustrated in Figure 5, except that the pin I6 hasbeen elevated to bring the bottom thereof above the wire 42. The pinion3l drives the gear which drives the hour tube 4. As the hour tuberotates it will, ultimately, at 8:00 oclock come to a position such thatthe pin 36 on the spur gear 30 comes opposite the cut part 39 in themember 22. The pin on the spur gear 30 and the hour tube 4 are thuspermitted to rise to the position illustrated in Figure 4 under theaction of the pin 33, which is pushed upwardly by the spring 34. In thatposition the gear 30 is still 'inmesh with the pinion 3| When thevspring 34 rises from the position illustrated in Figure 5 to thatillustrated in Figure 4 itvraises the pin 80 out of position holding thewire 42, hence the wire 42 commences to vibrate due to the fact that itis continuously electrically energized by the motor mechanism 40. Thisgives an audible alarm. At the same time the end 6G of the spring 56 isretracted to the position illustrated in full lines in Figure 4, thusretracting the catch 63 from behind the end 66 of the slide. The slidethen returns to the position illustrated in Figure 2, un'der the actionof the spring 50. This movement of the slide causes the pawl T0 which ison the slide to advance the ratchet wheel 1l one step. If the commutatorwas previously in a position such that its insulating segments wereengaged by the brushes 'I6-Tl this turning of the commutator will bringits conducting segments into engagement with the brushes, thus turningthe light l2 on. On the other hand, if at the time of actuation of thecommutator 'l2 the brushes were in contact with conducting segments ofthe commutator this movement of the commutator will bring the insulatingsegments into engagement with the brushes and the light will be turnedoff. It is thus apparent that the movement of the slide 46 actuates thecommutator to bring the light from an off to an on position. or from anon to an 01T position. As the clock continues to operate, the pin 34 onthe gear 30 will ride on the under si de of the inclined upwardlyprojecting tongue 38 on the member 22. thus gradually forcing the gear30 and with it the tube 4 downwardly from the position illustrated infull lines in Figure 4 to the dotted lines in that figure. At that timethe pin will be brought back into abutment with the vibrating wire 42and stop the audible alarm. The catch 63 will move back through theopening S5 in the plate 44 and extend into the opening 4l of the slide.The slide 45, however, remains in its retracted position unless it ismanually reset. Thereafter the clock will not operate the light unlessthe slide 46 is reset. The clock will, however, give an audible alarmevery twelve hours, unless and until the pin I6 is pushed downwardly toprevent the automatic alarm action.

As previously stated, the automatic mechanism which advances thecommutator l! one step merely changes the condition of the lamp circuitfrom 01T to on or Vice Versa. The same effect may be accomplishedmanually. To that eiect there is provided a verticallyslidablerpushbutton Il that extends through an opening in the top of thecasing 2 and is held in its elevated position by a spring 86. Downwardmovement of the push button Il against the action of the spring causes apawl 81 to actuate the ratchet 1I. It is thus apparent that bysuccessive actuations of the manual push button l1 the commutator '.12may be advanced in a step by step manner to turn the light on or off.Whatever may be the condition of the light, an automatic time clockoperation of the commutator, as hereinabove de.- scribed, will result inan alternate condition.

From the above description it is apparent that I have provided a simpleand effective time clock controlled means for turning an electric lighton or oi and for actuating an alarm, both selectively, withoutsubstantially increasing the cost of the clock mechanism.

vIn compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes we have hereshown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention.

i member.

Itis, however, to be understoodV that the invention is not limited totheprecise construction here shown, the 'same beingmerely illustrativeof the principles of the invention. What we consider new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. An electric lamp clock having a base whichincludes a top, clock mechanism withinV the base, an upwardly extendingtime shaft above the base, a tube surrounding said shaft and having atits lower end an escutcheon which rests on the top of the base,v saidbase having an opening therein surrounded by the escutcheon, an inverteddished member extending through the opening and having a peripheralflange in spring Contact with the underside of the top of the base, andmeans Ysecuring theescutcheon to the dished member thereby securing theescutcheon and the dished member to the top of the base.

2. An electric lamp clock having a base which includes a tcp,'clockmechanism within the base, an upwardly extending time shaft above thebase, a tube surrounding said shaft and having at its lower end anescutcheon which rests on the top of the base, said base having anopening therein surrounded by the escutcheon, an inverted dished memberextending through the opening and having a peripheral flange in springcontact with the underside of the top of the base, means securing theescutcheon to the dished member thereby securing the escutcheon and thedished member to the top of the base, time clock operated means slidablealong the dished member, and means at one location on the dished memberfor controlling the motion of the clock operated means.V

3. An electric lamp clock having a base which includes a top, clockmechanism within the base, an upwardly extending time shaft above thebase, a tube surrounding said shaft and having at'its lower end anescutchecn which rests on the tcp of the base, said base having anopening therein surrounded by the escutcheon, an inverted dished memberextending through the opening and having a peripheral flange in springcontact with the under side of the top of the base, means securing theescutcheon to the dishedV member thereby securing the escutcheon and thedished member to the top of the base, time clock operated means slidablealong the dished member, and means at one location on the dished memberfor controlling the motion of the clock operated means, said dishedmember being manually turna-ble by turning the escutcheon to vary thetime of control of the time clock operated means by the dished lio Y4.An electric lamp clock having a base which includes a top, clockmechanism within the base, an upwardly extending time shaft above thebase, a tube surrounding said shaft and having at its lower end anescutcheon which rests on the top of the base, said base having anopening therein surrounded by the escutcheon, an inverted dished memberextending through the opening and having a peripheral flange ln springcontact with the underside of the top of the base, means securing theescutcheon to the dished member thereby securing the escutchecn and thedished member to the top of the base, time clock operated means slidablealong the dished member, means at one location on the dished member forcontrolling the motion of the clock operated means, and cooperating timescale and pointer means on the escutcheon and base top for indicatingthe time of operation of the time clock operated means under control ofthe dished member.

5. A clock controlled actuating means comprising, a leaf spring securedto one end and free at the other, a pin holding the free end exedagainst the natural resiliency of the spring, an alarm stop pin at thefree end of the spring, a second leaf spring secured at one end to thefree end of the first spring and free at its opposite end and having alatch at said opposite end,lsaid second spring being fulcrumedintermediate its ends so that upon movement in one direction of the endthereof that is secured to the rst spring the lopposite end of theSecond spring will move in the opposite direction a slide member, manualmeans for moving the slide from one position to an alternate position,spring means for returning the slide to said one position, said latchreleasably holding the slide against said return movement, and manuallyadjustable time controlled means for actuating the rst mentioned leafspring to withdraw the alarm stop pin and the latch.

6. An alarm clock mechanism comprising a plate, an electric clock motoron the under side of the plate, speed reducing clock gearing on theupper side of the plate and driven by the motor, a slide on the upperside of the plate, spring means urging the slide to one position, aspring pressed latch on the under side of the plate and extendingthrough a hole in the plate to hold the slide, a pin extending throughthe plate at right angles thereto and controlling the spring pressedlatch, and means controlled by the clock gearing for controllingactuation of the pin.

BERTOLD REGENSTEINER. MAX REGENSTEINER.

